India vs Pakistan Asia Cup match: Boycott calls intensify ahead of game

Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) organised multiple protests across the country, calling for a boycott of the game. In Delhi, it also warned clubs and restaurants against streaming of the game, as it asked the government if Operation Sindoor is still ongoing, then how can India play against Pakistan in Dubai? 

People across the country are opposing this. In Delhi, we will boycott all those restaurants, bars, and nightclubs which will broadcast the match. We will tell people not to visit such restaurants. Such people have no right to do business," AAP's Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj said, as reported by news agency ANI.

Uddhav Sena holds protest in Maharashtra

Like AAP, the Shiv Sena-UBT also organised a protest across Maharashtra on Sunday and urged people not to watch the match. Party leader Aaditya Thackeray termed the game an 'anti-national' act and said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has changed "its ideology and definition of patriotism".

"The match can be boycotted even today, even now. The @BCCI can still show India that it belongs to India, and not to greed of money. The BCCI can still prove that it isn’t anti- national. Do 2 points really matter to the best team in the world? Those playing today on the field, must realise that they are playing against a country from where terrorists came into ours, massacred innocent lives. Think of the families who lost their loved ones in Pahalgam," he posted on 'X'.

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi also hit out at the Centre, pondering how much money the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) will earn from the Asia Cup game against Pakistan. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that blood and water cannot flow together, then how can the two countries play a cricket match?

"How much money will the BCCI get from one cricket match Rs 2,000 crore, Rs 3,000 crore? Tell us is the value of the lives of our 26 citizens more or the money? The BJP should tell us about it (on the decision to play the match against Pakistan)," he said, as reported by news agency PTI. 

Need consistency in policy: Cong

Slamming the government, the Congress said that there has to be consistency in policy. Speaking to ANI, Congress MP Manish Tewari said if the policy is that talks and terror cannot go hand in hand, then the policy obviously should extend to that cricket and terror cannot go hand in hand.

"If we are not engaging with Pakistan because it continues to be a State Sponsor of terror, then we should not play Cricket with them also. On one side, you are saying that credible information exists that money from the IMF is being diverted to ostensibly reconstruct HQ of the LeT. LeT is designated terrorist organisation, responsible for the attack on J&K Vidhan Sabha in 2000, attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001, attack in Mumbai in 2008, it is responsible for the Uri attack, it is responsible for the Pulwama attack, it is involved in Pahalgam attack," he said.

What did the government say?

Meanwhile, the government has maintained that though India does not play bilateral games against Pakistan, it needs to play against their arch-rivals at multinational tournaments. "When multinational tournaments are organised by ACC or ICC, it becomes a compulsion, a necessity for nations to participate. If they don't do that, they will be eliminated from the tournament, they will have to forfeit the match and the other team will get the points...But India doesn't play bilateral tournaments with Pakistan," BJP MP Anurag Thakur said on Saturday.